Finally got a bottle of this.Pours a dark brown in color with some ruby highlights lingering. Nice off white head on the pour and sticks around for the duration. Smell is very oily, resinous hops. As much hops in the nose as I have ever pulled from a beer. Taste is a brutal hop assault on the palate. Astringent, tongue wrecking hops. There's just enough malt to hold the beer together. The alcohol that does come through in the flavor is very welcomed. It helps take a bit from the hops. Very good beer.Next to Stone's 10th Anniversary, this is my favorite beer from the series.

Dark copper color with white head. Smell and taste are hops hops and more hops. Wow, I can't remember the last time I had such a hoppy beer. It was probably the last time I had a Stone beer. Just demolishes the drinkability and flavor profile. After about four sips I had to order something different. Mouthfeel was medium bodied and medium carbonated.

S - Pretty strong piney/cedary hop character, backed up with a good bit of maltiness that isn't too sweet.

T - Taste is definitely hoppy up front with the pine notes, not quite an assault because of the strong malt presence. Maltiness is slightly sweet, but not too much. Dryish finish, and decently balanced

This stuff finally arrived in my area today! Poured from the bomber into my snifter. Pours a dark red/brown color with nice ruby highlights when held to the light. Slightly tan head was about 1/2 inch thick when poured settles to a very nice surface coating with a nice thick ring surrounding the inside of the glass. Decent lacing. Aromas of piney hops and some citrus, along with a nice malty presence as well. The dry hopped taste immediately hit my palate upon the first sip, with the aforementioned pine and citrusy grapefruit flavor also coming through nicely. The taste is rounded out with a nice roasted caramel malt sweetness. The hop bitterness does tend to dominate though, even as the beer warms up a bit. The hop bitterness certainly lingers as an aftertaste. Wow! Stone continues to blow me away! This beer has a sort of thick, chewy, and oily mouthfeel that coats the palate. Medium body with moderate carbonation. Becomes easier do drink as it warms a bit. I was very impressed!

A: Pouring a clear deep ruby red with brilliant clarity and a gorgeous, finger-thick darkish-beige head, this is a pretty attractive beer.

S: Ah, good old Stone. Dry hopped to hell, this is a treat. Pine and grapefruit dominate the nose with a pleasing bitterness, balanced by a rather prominent malt presence as well. Mild herbal/mint character comes through as it warms up. Good stuff.

T: Opening up with a combination of sweeter dark caramel and bitter pine hop flavors, this is very tasty. Flavor profile isn't the most complex, and the balance in the hop character leans towards bittering hops. Coupled with the bitterness, the caramel character tastes almost burnt in a delicious way. Finishes dry with a grapefruit bitterness.

M: Medium light in body with a biting hop character, this is great on the palate. The carbonation is rather soft, and the finish, aggressively bitter.

Pours a dark reddish/brown with little to no carbonation. Has a light lacing of foam around the edge of the glass, small head when first poured. When I first poured this beer a savored the aroma it smelled like a pine forest with some citrus, for hop heads like myself, there's no better aroma and it smelled incredible. The first sip immediately pounded my tongue with hops in the middle and the front and the hop bitterness continues to dance on your tongue for a very long time, it dissipates very, very slowly. There's a hint of malt in there to try and balance out the hops but I can't really say this is one of those beers that balances out equally between the malt and the hops. The hops definitely take over and what's left of your palate picks up the hint of malts. Hop heads will absolutely love this beer (I myself am one of them). I don't know of many Imperial Reds out there and this one is very interesting since all the bigger bodied reds I've ever had seemed to emphasize more malty sweetness with the hops to bring it back into check, this one is just the opposite. Mouthfeel is a medium body, very smooth, and very, very drinkable. This is one beer that can easily sneak up on you and it is also one I would hope to see Stone brew on a yearly basis. This is by far the best red ale I've ever had and it pushes the boundary of traditional red ales into the extreme category. I absolutely love this beer.

Beautiful, burgundy color to this one and a medium head that slowly settles to a ring around the glass and center dusting of foam. Malt sweetness up front which slowly meld into the hop bitterness and eventually fade into a full residual hop bitterness. Simple, straightforward and not complex. I like it and think (despite their warnings not to) this would age interestingly.

disclaimer: drank this while homebrewing, and ive noticed that smells and tastes that are in the air while homebrewing can effect your palate...

A: poured into my duvel tulip. Dark brown in the glass, but BRILLIANT ruby in the light. eggshell head, several fingers thick. excellent head retention. color steals the show.

S: chocolate jumps out at me. roasted barleys. almost some espresso. hops dont show thru in the nose as much as you might think. malts rule the nose. some alcohol at the end.

T: tastes are very much inline with the nose. chocolate and coffee acidity dominate before the hop bitterness kicks in; and boy does it kick in. hop acidity cleans away almost all of the bitter and sticky malt flavors. exceptional balance considering the "size" of the beer. hops linger only slightly longer than you want them to. raisins and BOOZE join the hops in the aftertaste as this beer warms.

M: wonderful mouthfeel as this beer changes so much on your palate. carbonation is great, creamy on the tongue.

D: This beer loses on drinkability but it was probably intended that way. Theres way too much going on on the palate to keep this beer going down smooth. Beers this complex shouldnt be drinkable, however...

13 already? It seems like 10th was just the most current one. Oh well, bottoms up!

APPEARANCE: Pours into a Victory willibecker a dark reddish copper. A 2-finger high cream-colored head forms on top and shrinks slowly to an undulating, large-bubbled cap.

SMELL: Though subdued, an excellent balance of malt and hops. The hops are resinous and sticky citrus and pine. Signature Stone. The malt is rich with deep caramels and a touch of roast and breadiness. Really, it's like a mini Arrogant Bastard.

TASTE: The hops come first in the same form as they did in the aroma. But they're presence in the forefront is short-lived as the bready malt asserts itself as the dominant flavor in the beer. As it crosses the palate, it only becomes more rich, but without any cloying sweetness. The finish is all roastiness and deep caramels, now with a bit of sweetness, ending in completely the opposite fashion of how it started.

MOUTHFEEL: Pretty significant in body, perhaps a bit much. Though it isn't terribly slick. The carbonation is at an average level.

DRINKABILITY: Good considering how beefy this beer seems to be. It does suffer from the same things that AB does in that all the flavors are so intense that you need to almost pace yourself with it. Still good though.

Not a bad choice, but the previous few anniversary ales have been so good that this one doesn't measure up. It's good to have a couple more bottles though.

i found this beer to be a typical stone beer. the color was more of an amber color, something simular to hopback by troeg. the taste was quite hoppy with a clean finish. the several different hops used created a wonderful layered aroma. personally i was disappointed by this beer, being a stone limited release project i wanted more than what i got. that being said this a wonderful expression of what good hops can do in a beer.

The beer pours a dark burnt caramel of a color with a big tan head on it's shoulders. Lacing and retention are both decent, the good pour I have come to expect from stone. The only problem is, another one of Stone's signature marks is the beer's achiles...big beer, big flavor, but not much blending. Everything kind of fights for the spotlight, quite aggressively I might add. The smell and taste are both dominated by grapefruit and caramel notes, they don't blend together as well as one would hope. The mouthfeel is a bit thick, but by no means overly syrupy, with a good amount of carbonation. The drinkability is alright, I wouldn't crack open another bomber after finishing this one though. Overall, a pretty good beer, but nothing groundbreaking.

Stone's 13th Anniversary Ale pours a beautiful deep chestnut color with red highlights capped by a fluffy tan head. The aroma is mostly hops with some caramel and maple syrup thrown in there.

The taste starts off sweet but is quickly bowled over by spicy hops. There are some caramel notes from the malt and maybe just a bit of chocolate but the hops dominate with lots of bitterness that lingers forever. The mouthfeel is quite full with medium carbonation.

Overall, this beer reminded me of a cross between Arrogant Bastard and fresh Bigfoot. It was good but not as original as I thought it would be.

Drinkability= Drinkability is a little lower than most hoppy beers I drink. It maybe the peppery aspect of it. Don't get me wrong, I love hops but I dunno about this one. It's a good beer though. I'd say more like a American Strong DIPA if such a category existed. Hot beer, best describes it.

What a treat. I was informed from a friend that this beauty of a beer is finally released.

Poured from bomber into a tulip pint glass. Body is dark ruby red with a big two finger head, and legendary Stone lacing. Lacing was on par with Arrogant Bastard.

Aroma was very potent and very aggressive, which Stone seems to have a nack for. Fully of resinous hops and caramel malt, with a nice sweet touch. Smells delicious.

Taste was very much different than what I was expecting. Loads of hops are ever present throughout, punctuated by flavors of caramel, toffee, a bit of molasses, and very bready. Alcohol becomes noticeable after the sweeter notes give rise to toasty malts. Tasting this beer was a full on assault of the palate. Very strong, very tasty, and very challenging.

Mouthfeel was superb as can be expected. Nice thick body coats the mouth with its brutal grace.

This is nice sipping beer. It would go down better with fellow's who also enjoy good craft beer. Cheers!

22 oz bottle that I picked up on the way out of Hop City. I think the bottle ran about $5.99, not too bad. Always game to try a Stone Anniversary beer. Served this one up in a standard, shaker pint glass.

A: Pour creates a nice brown body. Its a medium brown and is pretty clear and I am not seeing much carbonation at all. On the pour, the light hits it and really lights this beer up and makes a nice red color. Held to the light, you get a nice brown, light brown with a good red hue. Pour got me a little over two fingers of head. Head is incredibly light brown in color. The head creates a really nice sheeting effect but it doesn't have much stick to it. The head slides easily back into the glass. Very nice red ale and looks damned good.

S: This brew has a good hops aroma. Its very aromatic and very pleasing for sure. Got a good amount of pine kicking in here. Behind that you get some good citrus, grapefruit meat. This does create a bit of a medicinal aroma that is bordering on iffy, but it works out. Has a light caramel malt in the background, and it actually has a decent amount of roast on it. This makes it sweet but also has a touch of nuttiness and bitterness here as well.

T: Light sweetness up front from the malts. Has a light chocolate profile, but most of it is a caramel flavor. The roast does darken up the flavors a bit, bring out some nuttiness and a light smoked bitterness. Quickly replacing that sweetness (and I mean quickly) you get all that hoppiness. Very much a pine resin presence, but it borders on too much. Its almost an industrial, pine-sol type flavor. Light citrus hops come out, bringing up a bit of grapefruit and orange. Behind that still is more hops, grassy and floral aroma that makes an almost perfume type presence. This is a bit wierd and I don't know if this is a mess or good.

M: Medium in body, this has an unexpected creaminess going on in here. Nice wieght to it that really has some coating to it. Carbonation is low, a lot lower than expected. This is a pleasant suprise, further helping that creamy presence. Pretty bitter on the palate. Aftertaste is pretty much all those hops lingering. Sometime they meld well together, sometimes not so much.

D: Well, this was interesting. Some good suprises and some not so great. The feel and appearance were very nice and enjoyable. The flavor on the other hand was just off to me. It just seems that the flavors didn't always mesh well together. I could see where this beer was planning on going, but I don't think it quite got there. Too much dry hopping was probably the culprit. Still not bad, and I'd have another if just for further curiousity's sake. Interesting, to say the least.

Appearance - Very deep ruby color. Almost black, but the light goes through it nicely. A couple of inches of nice, solid head. Very good looking beer.

Smell - Surprisingly hoppy up front. A real nice, floral with a hint of grapefruit. But the back seems to have some coffee or malt. Definitely a roast quality lingering in the background. Also a real hint of booze. Interesting, to say the least.

Taste - Follows the nose. It's got some nice hop up front, but it's followed by the roast malt taste. It gets very bitter, almost burned on the end. Also some real pine hop flavor. The aftertaste is not making friends with me.

Drinkability - Not the best. That roast aftertaste is sort of dimming my enthusiasm.

Didin't know what to expect with this beer. It's interesting, especially on the nose, but in the end it just didn't do it for me. Not quite sure what they were going for with this one, not clear that they knew either.

A soft pour still nets me an almost three-finger thick, lightly browned, amber-tan colored head. The beer is a dark, amber-red color with brown notes to it that when held up to the light shows a brilliantly clear, deep ruby hue. The aroma is sticky with candied hop notes; lychee, candied orange zest, sugar coated pine and spruce tips are followed & boosted by caramelized crystal malt flavors, toasted (almost roasted even) malt and a nice cracker / biscuit grain note towards the finish. Other, more herbal hop notes lend an almost dank, hemp-oil like character and perhaps a touch of green onion / garlic chive towards the finish. After a bit I start to notice a touch of cinnamon like hop character that mixes in with the sweet citrus notes. The nose of this beer is definitely quite hoppy, though given the hop-talk from the brewer I was actually expecting this to jump out of the glass with an expressive hop character. It doesn't quite do that, though it certainly is a hop focused beer, but there is a solid, underlying malt contribution here; it is overwhelmed by the hops in the aroma, but you can tell this beer has a lot of malt richness to it as well.

Somewhat creamy textured and full in the body, the beer still has quite a bit of a prickly carbonation; it would probably be better without quite so much carbonation. There is enough hop character here that the overall beer effect seems dry. There is some residual malt sugars here, even a substantial crystal malt sweetness, it just isn't that noticeable because of all the raw hop character. The beer finishes with a lingering, bracing bitterness that really stays on the palate long after the beer has left my mouth and even has some raw, green-hop astringency. Herbal hops are apparent as the beer first hits my tongue. There is also a solid fruity-hop character here, it just clearly plays second fiddle to the herbal hop notes. Hop notes of grapefruit zest, tangerine, lychee and kumquat are joined by notes green raw hop notes (that are almost a bit vegetal at times), substantial peppery pine notes, Towards the finish, after it loses the fruit notes, the hop character get piquant with notes of menthol, pine, peppery herbs and a resinous hop character that just fills the palate. The finish has some warm, almost hot alcohol character to it that accentuates the biting hop character.

I like that the nose strikes a decent balance between citrus hop notes, more dank, herbal notes and with a subtle, but somehow substantial malt character as a backbone to the nose. This is definitely a sipping brew, with all it malt character and alcoholic strength, not to mention the aggressive hop character. Stone puts this as part of the nebulous Imperial / Double Red style of beer. To my taste it is a cross between a rich, malty and thick Barleywine and a hopped up Double IPA. This is an unbalanced hoppy beer for sure, but it still needs some balance to it; the hop character can get a bit too harsh here at times and the hot alcohol doesn't help things. Still not a bad beer, just could use a bit more finesse and perhaps just a month or two of age to mellow and better integrate the harsh notes; I'll have to get another bottle of this to do just that.